Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat — I'm a big user of Gmail chat. Being able to switch from email to chat as needed, all within the same app, is really great for productivity. But people can only type so fast, and even with our new emoticons, there are still some things that just can't be expressed in a chat message.

Google launches video chat for Gmail — Google is rolling out video and voice capabilities for the chat function that is embedded in the Gmail interface. It's a bare-bones voice and video-conferencing service, but it's simple to install and use and is a very good addition to Gmail.

Tracking flu trends — Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections, today's hot trends, or each year's Zeitgeist, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began …

Changes at Six Apart — Earlier today, I published the following message on our internal company blog. For those members of our community who wanted to know about the changes at Six Apart today, I've reposted it here publicly for reference. — Today we are making some changes at Six Apart.

A Camcorder Insurgent Goes HD — The fastest growing company in Silicon Valley over the past few years was not Facebook, VMWare, or all-mighty Google. According to Deloitte, the professional services firm, it was a company whose name you probably won't recognize but whose product you will …

Apple may turn to carbon fiber for lighter MacBook Air — Apple enthusiastically claimed ownership to the world's thinnest notebook earlier this year with the introduction of the MacBook Air, but is rumored to be unsatisfied with the system's weight, which it now hopes to drop below 3 pounds.

Loopt Hires Allen & Co. For Financing Or Sale — Loopt is in the news today. In addition to getting a nice surge in iPhone downloads after being featured in an Apple TV commercial, we've heard that they've hired investment bank Allen & Co. to represent them in a sale or financing transaction.

Microsoft Security Patch Was Seven Years in the Making — Some security patches take time. — Seven-and-a-half years, in fact, if you count the time it's taken Microsoft to patch a security issue in its SMB (Server Message Block) service, fixed Tuesday. This software is used by Windows …

New Google Search results pages for iPhone — Starting today in the U.S., when you go to google.com on your iPhone and do a search, you'll see search results that are better optimized for your phone. You'll still get the full comprehensiveness and quality of regular Google Search results …

Microsoft, Verizon Near Search Deal — Microsoft Corp. is moving closer to an agreement with Verizon Wireless to become the default search provider on the wireless carrier's cellphones, a deal rival Google Inc. has been striving for, people familiar with the discussions said.

AT&T iPhone Tethering Plan Specifics, No Unlimited Plan? — AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega has recently announced the arrival of an official iPhone tethering plan. While we already knew the plan was in development prior to his announcement, little information pertaining to specific tethering offerings has been revealed.

Digital dealmaker and a dozen others out at Wired — A quarter of the 50-something employees in Wired.com's San Francisco newsroom are gone, a source tells us — and with them, the bubbly delusion that Wired would not just report on the transformation of media by technology, but be a part of the revolution as well.

Amazon to Sell OLPC's XO Laptop Starting Nov. 17 — One Laptop Per Child confirmed it will start selling the XO laptop through Amazon.com on Monday. — The XO laptop will be sold through Amazon in the same way as the G1G1 program, where a consumer donates US$400 for two laptops …

Best Buy's Gift Card is a Tiny Audio Speaker — Who is the consultant that told all of the big boxers that it would be a good idea to turn this year's holiday gift cards into some sort of tangible object? They are raking it in right now. First Target made this year's gift cards into digital cameras …

Cisco details tech plans for new Yankee Stadium — A picture of the new Yankee stadium in the Bronx set to open in April 2009. — NEW YORK - Cisco is teaming up with the New York Yankees to offer baseball fans an interactive experience at the ballpark and eventually bring that experience to their living rooms.

Argentine judge: Google, Yahoo must censor searches — Caption: Results for a search of soccer star Diego Maradona on Yahoo Argentina only bring up news results and a notification that the search has been filtered. — If an Argentine sports fan tried searching Yahoo Argentina …

Philips develops “intelligent pill” — AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch group Philips has developed an “intelligent pill” that contains a microprocessor, battery, wireless radio, pump and a drug reservoir to release medication in a specific area in the body. — Philips, one of the world's …